The present invention relates to a hospital stretcher, and particularly, to a surgical stretcher used for head and neck surgery. More particularly, the present invention relates to a surgical stretcher having a head rest that is adjustable relative to a back section of the stretcher and having hardware, such as a wrist rest assembly and extender board assemblies, that are used in conjunction with the head rest.
Hospital stretchers having head rests that support the head of a patient during head and neck surgery are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,797 to Failor et al. Hospital stretchers having wrist rests that support the wrists of a surgeon performing surgery on the head and neck of the patient are also known. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent and U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,011 to Evans.
Some head rests are adjustable so that the surgeon can move the head of the patient to a desired position and some wrist rests are adjustable so that the surgeon can move the wrist rest to a desired position relative to the head of the patient. See, for example the Failor et al. '797 patent which shows a knob at a foot end of the stretcher that can be rotated to rotate a plurality of hollow and slotted connecting tubes, an extension shaft, an adjustment rod, a plurality of universal joints, and a slide shaft, all of which operate through a worm gear reducer to adjust the position of a head support plate which is situated at a head end of the stretcher. The Failor et al. '797 patent also shows an adjustable wrist rest assembly having a longitudinally-extending square tube which fits into a slightly larger longitudinally-extending square tube that is centrally positioned with respect to sides of the head support plate and that is welded to the bottom of a main support plate connected to the head support plate.
Head rests on stretchers used for head and neck surgery typically have smaller widths than the rest of the surface which supports the patient to facilitate access to the head of the patient by the surgeon. Some stretchers having head rests may include extension assemblies that mount to the stretcher adjacent to the head rest to increase the overall width of the support surface in the vicinity of the head and shoulders of the patient. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent which shows a head rest extension assembly that mounts directly to the head rest. The head rest extension assembly of the Failor et al. '797 patent includes a U-shaped plate and a longitudinally-extending square tube that can fit within the centrally positioned tube mounted to the main support plate when the wrist rest assembly is removed from the centrally positioned tube. See also, the Stryker Model 1068 Head and Neck Surgery Stretcher advertising literature which shows a pair of padded head extensions that rigidly attach to a litter of the stretcher and that remain at a single position adjacent to a head piece while attached to the litter.
Arm boards that can be coupled to the sides of a stretcher and arranged to support the arms of the patient are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,972,505 to Weickgenannt. Some arm boards can pivot relative to the stretcher so that an arm of the patient can be moved to a desired position, for example, to receive IV fluids.
Stretchers having foot pedals that can be engaged to actuate a center wheel mechanism and braking mechanisms of the stretcher are also known in the art. Stretchers having a head rest may include such foot pedals beneath the head rest. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent and the Stryker Model 1068 Head and Neck Surgery Stretcher advertising literature. Sometimes these foot pedals can get in the way of foot-operated surgical equipment that the surgeon uses during head and neck surgery.
What is needed is a surgical stretcher having a head rest that can be easily adjusted relative to a back section of the stretcher by a caregiver or surgeon while standing at a head end of the stretcher. The stretcher should include an adjustable wrist rest assembly that can attach to and detach from the head rest. The stretcher should also include a pair of extender boards that can couple to sides of the back section and pivot between a first position in which the extender boards function as head rest extenders and a second position in which the extender boards function as arm boards. In addition, the position of the back section of the stretcher should be manually adjustable when the extender boards are in either the first or second positions. A stretcher having a foot pedal that can be moved to an out-of-the-way position to prevent interference of the foot pedal with foot-operated surgical equipment would provide many advantages to surgeons as well.
According to the present invention, a surgical stretcher is provided including a frame and a patient-support deck coupled to the frame. A head rest is coupled to the patient-support deck. The head rest includes a pair of longitudinally-extending spaced-apart socket tubes and a bottom plate extending transversely between the socket tubes. A side plate angles upwardly from each of the socket tubes so that a head cushion-receiving space is defined between the side plates. Each of the socket tubes has an interior region and each socket tube is open so that portions of a wrist rest assembly can be inserted into the interior region of the socket tubes.
A wrist rest assembly includes a first rod that can be received in the interior region of one of the pair of socket tubes and a second rod that can be received in the interior region of the other of the pair of socket tubes. The wrist rest assembly includes an end tube coupled to the first rod and a knob mounted on the second tube and coupled to the end tube. The knob can be rotated in a first direction to bind the first and second rods against respective socket tubes to prevent movement of the first and second rods relative to the head rest and the knob can be rotated in a second direction to unbind the first and second rods from respective socket tubes to allow movement of the first and second rods relative to the head rest.
The stretcher includes a bracket that couples the head rest to the back section. The bracket is coupled to the patient-support deck for pivoting movement about a transverse first pivot axis. The head rest is coupled to the bracket for pivoting movement about a transverse second pivot axis. A grip handle is coupled to the head rest and the grip handle has a side handle portion extending alongside the head rest in spaced-apart relation therewith so that the grip handle can be grasped to control pivoting movement of the head rest and bracket relative to the patient-support deck.
The stretcher includes a first locking mechanism that locks the bracket relative to the back section and a second locking mechanism that locks the head rest relative to the bracket. A release button is coupled to the first and second locking mechanisms. The release button can be pressed to simultaneously unlock the first and second locking mechanisms so that the head rest can be manually repositioned relative to the back section and relative to the bracket. The release button is positioned to lie between the side handle portion of the grip handle and the head rest so that the release button can be pressed while the side handle portion of the grip handle is grasped.
The patient-support deck includes a back section coupled to the frame for pivoting movement about a transverse pivot axis. The back section has first and second longitudinal sides and a transverse end extending between the sides. In addition, the back section has a substantially planar back-support surface. An extender board having an extension surface substantially coplanar with the back-support surface can be coupled to each side of the back section for pivoting movement relative to the back section.
An actuator couples the back section to the frame of the stretcher. The actuator is lockable to prevent pivoting movement of the back section relative to the frame and the actuator is releasable to allow pivoting movement of the back section relative to the frame. A first releasing assembly is coupled to the back section and coupled to the actuator. Actuation of the first releasing assembly releases the actuator so that the back section can be manually pivoted relative to the frame.
The back section includes a pair of corner portions that can be grasped to manually move the back section when the actuator is released. The first release assembly includes a pair of handle portions, each of which are adjacent to respective corner portions of the back section. One or the other of the handle portions and companion corner portions can be grasped at the same time and the handle portion can be squeezed toward the corner portion to release the actuator.
A second releasing assembly is coupled to the extender board. The extender board has a first position in which actuation of the second releasing assembly actuates the first releasing assembly to release the actuator so that the back section can be manually pivoted relative to the frame.
The extender board is connected to the back section by a connector assembly that is configured to allow a corner portion of the extender board to be grasped to manually move the back section when the extender board is in the first position and the actuator is released. The second releasing assembly includes a handle portion which is adjacent to the corner portion of the extender board. The handle portion of the second releasing assembly and the corner portion of the extender board can be grasped at the same time and the handle portion of the second actuator can be squeezed toward the corner portion of the extender board to release the actuator when the extender board is in the first position.
The patient-support apparatus also includes a pedal assembly for rotating a brake-steer shaft of the patient-support apparatus about an axis. The pedal assembly includes a yoke coupled to the brake-steer shaft to rotate therewith. The pedal assembly also includes a flip-over pedal having a proximal end coupled to the yoke and a distal end spaced apart from the proximal end. The flip-over pedal is pivotable about a flip-over axis relative to the yoke. The flip-over pedal has a first orientation in which the flip-over pedal extends away from the yoke in a first direction so that the distal end of the flip-over pedal can be engaged to rotate the brake-steer shaft in a first direction. The flip-over pedal has a second orientation in which the flip-over pedal extends away from the yoke in a second direction so that the distal end of the flip-over pedal can be engaged to rotate the brake-steer shaft in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.